History Literature / HaloFirstStrike

* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Haverson kills an Engineer who just repaired John's armor in order to keep the Covenant from getting any data on it. He finds the act just as despicable as Cortana does, but stands by his decision. Also, when Whitcomb orders the ''Gettysburg-Ascendent Justice'' to bail out while the Covenant come in and start killing all the Eridanus Secundus Insurrectionists.

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* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Haverson kills an Engineer who just repaired John's armor in order to keep the Covenant from getting any data on it. He finds the act just as despicable as Cortana does, but stands by his decision. Also, when Whitcomb orders the ''Gettysburg-Ascendent Justice'' to bail out while the Covenant come in and start killing all the Eridanus Secundus Insurrectionists.Insurrectionists:-->'''Whitcomb:''' Duty be damned. [[ImGoingToHellForThis I am still going to Hell for this.]]

* AFatherToHisMen: Admiral Whitcomb is this, to a degree where it actually negatively affects his ability to command sometimes;

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* AFatherToHisMen: Admiral Whitcomb is this, deeply cares about the well-being of the people under his command, to a degree the point where it actually negatively affects he has to constantly take special care to ensure that his feelings don't interfere with his ability to command sometimes;be a rational commander.

* AFatherToHisMen: Admiral Whitcomb is this, to a degree where it actually negatively affects his ability to command sometimes;--> Admiral Whitcomb sighed. He felt for [the critically injured Kelly-087, who he's just had removed from ''Ascendant Justice's'' bridge] ... felt too much - which was the problem. He couldn't concentrate with her so close. He'd want constant status reports on her condition. Hell, he would have gone over, knelt next to her, and held her hand if that would've helped. He loved the men and women under his command as if they were his own sons and daughters. It was the old axiom of command: To be a good leader, you had to love the service. To be a great commander, you had to be willing to destroy that which you loved.

** The Forerunner crystal, which [[spoiler:is deemed too dangerous by Halsey and so destroyed. The Prophet of Truth receives a few fragments that he thinks may be good for his plans, but that's the last we've heard of it.]]

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** The Forerunner crystal, which [[spoiler:is deemed too dangerous by Halsey and so destroyed. The Prophet of Truth receives a few fragments that he thinks may be good for his plans, but that's the last we've heard of it.]]]] That said, ''Literature/TheForerunnerSaga'' and ''Halo: Warfleet'' seem to imply that it's related to [[spoiler:the slipspace flakes used by the Forerunners to power their slipspace drives]].

* ItsProbablyNothing: A Grunt notices a flight of Banshees that aren't on his flight schedule, but can't figure out whether they're Elites on a secret mission or not, and ultimately decides to not report them in because he fears being punished for interrupting said mission. It turns out that the Banshees are actually carrying Spartans who end up killing him and every other Covenant in the valley. (On a side note, Blue Team ''did'' end up encountering a lot of anti-air fire once another guard realized they weren't Covenant, [[ForWantOfANail so if the Grunt did report them...]]).

** Sergeant Johnson's immunity to the Flood has also never come up again. In this case, it is intentional; [[http://halostory.bungie.org/staten102204.html Bungie has said they've chosen to ignore it]].* AFatherToHisMen: Admiral Whitcomb.* AcePilot: Shiela Polaski, who's from the same squadron as [[VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved Foehammer]].

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** Sergeant Johnson's immunity to the Flood has also never come up again.again, outside of a brief mention in ''ComicBook/TheHaloGraphicNovel''. In this case, it is intentional; [[http://halostory.bungie.org/staten102204.html Bungie has said they've chosen to ignore it]].* AFatherToHisMen: Admiral Whitcomb.Whitcomb, who very much cares about the well-being of the rest of the survivors, even if Earth's safety ultimately comes first.* AcePilot: Shiela Polaski, who's from the same Pelican squadron as [[VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved Foehammer]].

* BrandishmentBluff: One where both sides are pulling the bluff. [[spoiler:When our heroes come across an Insurrectionist base, the Innies threaten them with nukes, which the UNSC responds with the threat of the ''Gettysburg-Ascendant Justice''[='s=] seven plasma turrets. When the Covenant attack them both, it turns out the nukes were just unusable neutron radiation emitters and the ''Gettysburg-Ascendant Justice'' actually only has one barely functioning plasma turret.]] * TheCaptain: While he's technically a vice admiral, Danforth Whitcomb fills this role to the letter. Complete with a gruff personality, Texan accent and a mustache.

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* BrandishmentBluff: One where both sides are pulling the bluff. [[spoiler:When our heroes come across an Insurrectionist base, the Innies threaten them with nukes, which the UNSC responds to with the threat of the ''Gettysburg-Ascendant Justice''[='s=] seven plasma turrets. When the Covenant attack them both, it turns out the nukes were just unusable neutron radiation emitters and the ''Gettysburg-Ascendant Justice'' actually only has one barely functioning plasma turret.]] * TheCaptain: While he's technically a vice admiral, Danforth Whitcomb fills this role to the letter.letter for the survivors of Reach and Halo. Complete with a gruff personality, Texan accent and a mustache.

* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Haverson kills an Engineer who just repaired John's armor in order to keep the Covenant from getting any data on it. He finds the act just as despicable as Cortana does, but stands by his decision. Also, when Whitcomb orders the ''Gettysburg-Ascendent Justice'' to bail out while the Covenant come in and destroy Eridanus Secundus.

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* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Haverson kills an Engineer who just repaired John's armor in order to keep the Covenant from getting any data on it. He finds the act just as despicable as Cortana does, but stands by his decision. Also, when Whitcomb orders the ''Gettysburg-Ascendent Justice'' to bail out while the Covenant come in and destroy start killing all the Eridanus Secundus.Secundus Insurrectionists.

* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler: ''All'' of the Spartans, except for surviving Spartans in the book are killed before they can get back to Earth, with the exceptions of John, Fred, Will, Linda, and Kelly.]]

* UndersideRide: In a flashback, it's revealed that John and his squad did this to infiltrate an enemy base during a training exercise. The soldiers they were up against [[GenreSavvy suspected this]], and ran mirrors along the bottom of the truck to check for them. However, the Spartans [[GambitPileup knew they would do that]], and brought along their own mirrors so they could reflect an unoccupied portion of the underside back at the guards. The kicker was that [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome the Spartans did this when they were only twelve]].

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* UndersideRide: In a flashback, it's revealed that John and his squad did this to infiltrate an enemy base during a training exercise. The soldiers they were up against [[GenreSavvy suspected this]], this, and ran mirrors along the bottom of the truck to check for them. However, the Spartans [[GambitPileup knew they would do that]], and brought along their own mirrors so they could reflect an unoccupied portion of the underside back at the guards. The kicker was that [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome the Spartans did this when they were only twelve]].

* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:Linda]], who was clinically dead from injuries sustained in ''The Fall of Reach'', is revived by Dr. Halsey towards the end of the novel.

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* ICanStillFight: Dr. Halsey would have insisted that [[spoiler:Linda]] get at least a month of bed rest after being brought back from the dead, but she will have none of that and insists on going on the mission to take out the ''Unyielding Hierophant''.-->'''[[spoiler:Linda]]:''' I'm squared away, Chief. I still have this ''(easily shoulders sniper rifle)'' and I still have this ''(pats her helmet)''. Even if the Covenant did their best to shoot it off last time. I can take care of myself. And I can take care of the team's back. I've never let you down, sir. I don't plan on doing so now.

* BrandishmentBluff: One where both sides are pulling the bluff. [[spoiler:When our heroes come across an Insurrectionist base, the latter threaten to use nukes, and the former respond with the threat of the ''Gettysburg-Ascendant Justice''[='s=] seven plasma turrets. When the Covenant attack, it turns out the nukes were just unusable neutron radiation emitters and the ''Gettysburg-Ascendant Justice'' actually only has one barely functioning plasma turret.]]

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* BrandishmentBluff: One where both sides are pulling the bluff. [[spoiler:When our heroes come across an Insurrectionist base, the latter Innies threaten to use them with nukes, and which the former respond UNSC responds with the threat of the ''Gettysburg-Ascendant Justice''[='s=] seven plasma turrets. When the Covenant attack, attack them both, it turns out the nukes were just unusable neutron radiation emitters and the ''Gettysburg-Ascendant Justice'' actually only has one barely functioning plasma turret.]]

* BrandishmentBluff: One where both sides are pulling the bluff. [[spoiler:When our heroes come across an Insurrectionist base, the latter threaten to use nukes, and the former respond with the threat of the ''Gettysburg-Ascendant Justice''[='s=] seven plasma turrets. When the Covenant attack, it turns out the nukes were just unusable neutron radiation emitters and the ''Gettysburg-Ascendant Justice'' actually only has one barely functioning plasma turret.]]

* ContinuityNod: Locklear is explicitly noted to have been one of [[Literature/HaloTheFlood Major Silva]]'s [=ODSTs=].

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* ContinuityNod: ContinuityNod: ** Locklear is explicitly noted to have been one of [[Literature/HaloTheFlood Major Silva]]'s [=ODSTs=].[=ODSTs=].** The Insurrectionist asteroid base in the Eridanus system is the exact same one that [[Literature/HaloTheFallOfReach the Chief's first mission]] took place in. It's implied that the guards there ''know'' this.

* EarlyBirdCameo: [[spoiler:Truth and Tartarus from ''Halo 2'']] show up in the epilogue, which also has a brief mention of the very Elite who goes on to become the Arbiter.** Several weapons, such as the BR-55 "Battle Rifle" also show up early on.

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* EarlyBirdCameo: EarlyBirdCameo: ** [[spoiler:Truth and Tartarus from ''Halo 2'']] show up in the epilogue, which also has a brief mention of the very Elite who goes on to become the Arbiter.** Several weapons, weapons introduced in ''2'', such as the BR-55 "Battle Rifle" Rifle", also show up early on.

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* NoMrBondIExpectYouToDine: While the ''Gettysburg-Ascendant Justice'' is staying at an Insurrectionist asteroid base, the bridge crew and Spartans are invited to refreshments by the base's governor, Jacob Jiles, while they discuss receiving repairs for their vessel. Jiles even begins to talk about [[FromMyOwnPersonalGarden the asteroid's hydroponic gardens]] before Whitcomb tells him to get back on topic.

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